


Unquantifiable

by amongthestars89



Series: The Unquantifiable Series: Book One [1]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Coming of Age, Emotional Spock (Star Trek), F/F, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Drama, Found Family, Gay, Growing Up, Heteronormativity, I'm Bad At Tagging, Lesbian Character of Color, M/M, Other, Protective Nyota Uhura, Spock is a tired stepdad, Teen Angst, Useless Lesbians, he's trying his best
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:53:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28257237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amongthestars89/pseuds/amongthestars89
Summary: In which Tish Uhura takes on the greatest trek of all: adolescence.
Relationships: Amanda Grayson/Sarek, Ben Sulu/Hikaru Sulu, James T. Kirk/Other(s), Nyota Uhura/Original Male Character, Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Pavel Chekov/Other(s), Spock/Nyota Uhura
Series: The Unquantifiable Series: Book One [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2076318
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Unquantifiable

"Don't forget your summer reading! Have a good break!" Tish Uhura heard her xenolinguistics teacher, Ms. Lambert call after her and the rest of her peers as they hurriedly dispersed from their by now buzzing classroom. Attempting to avoid getting caught in the hustle and bustle, she hung back, taking her time in gathering all her school supplies and other assorted possessions. From an outsider's perspective, it would seem she lacked the same enthusiasm as the rest of her class, and she had to admit, that wasn't entirely baseless. 

Though she found the prospect of rest and relaxation appealing, Tish knew she would miss her daily routine, even if it had become somewhat monotonous in the past year. If she had her way, she'd already be shadowing a communications officer aboard a Starfleet ship; but with the requirement that all aspiring applicants complete at least two years of high school, it seemed she'd just have to stick it out there a while longer. 

Allowing her head and shoulders to drop, she could already feel the tension in her joints, no doubt a product of all the late nights she had spent studying melting away. Tish couldn't put a number to how many times she'd awoken in the middle of the night with a blanket draped around her shivering form, the smooth surface of her writing desk cool against her face. This had, in turn, become somewhat of a nightly duty her grandmother had taken up while she was away at school. 

Tish could hardly believe it’d already been almost 4 years since her mother had enrolled in Starfleet Academy, her graduation only a few months away. It had taken a lot of convincing and assurance on her part to get her mom to do so in the first place, and despite how she missed her in the time between her routine visits, she couldn't be more proud. 

Of course, Tish hadn't been left all alone in that time, her grandmother having practically insisted on looking after her. Before then, her interactions with her grandma had been severely limited, for reasons she was still not completely sure of. They had grown close very quickly, beginning to do nearly everything together, just as she and her mother would; going on walks, baking bread together and if she was lucky, her grandmother would regale her with stories from when she was young. She could listen to those for hours—the ones that involved her grandfather captivating her the most. 

They had never met, him having died before she was born. Although by the way he was described in her grandmother's memories, he seemed like a man she would've be interested in getting to know. Tish smiled bittersweetly at the thought, making a mental note to to ask about him again that night. 

Right as she had just begun to make her way to the door, however, a familiar voice from behind stopped her. 

"Tish, sorry to keep you, but might I have a word before you go?" Ms. Lambert asked, an apologetic smile forming on her lips. Nodding in agreement, Tish could feel the tension in her shoulders return as she made her way over to the older woman's desk. Had she done something wrong? She had always had a track record of being a good student, so it seemed unlikely, but the young girl supposed that came from always assuming the worst. It was a bad habit, she knew, but growing up with the limitations she had, it'd become an automatic response in most situations. 

"As you are probably already aware of, you are one of the brightest students in this class, if not in this entire school. You're punctual, hardworking, and show an incredible proficiency in languages of all kinds." said the instructor, looking over her transcript admiringly. Tish let out a quiet sigh of relief, thanking the stars that she wasn't in trouble. 

"Well, thank you, Ms. Lambert. I had a good teacher." she remarked, thinking of all the times when she, as a young child would help prepare her mother for upcoming tests. From rounds of flash cards to pop quizzes in the middle of the supermarket, Tish's mom was almost certain she could've taken her linguistic assessments, herself, even at the age she had been. 

"Oh, stop it — you're too kind," Ms. Lambert joked, Tish only then realizing how her statement could've otherwise been interpreted. Choosing not to correct her, the dark-eyed girl simply laughed along, hoping it sounded genuine enough. "But anyways, seeing as your test scores alone put you up for early enrollment into practically any high school of your choosing, my question for you is: would that be something you'd be interested in doing?" she went on, her sudden proposition a touch startling to Tish, to put it lightly. If she were able to get started on high school this sooner, she could be on her way to shadowing on an actual, real-life ship before she'd even turned 15. 

"Wait, seriously? That's—that's news to me..." she stammered, mind going a mile a minute. 

"Yes! Isn't it wonderful? You should be very proud of yourself, your performance has been highly praised in all us teachers' bi-weekly conferences." Ms. Lambert expressed, a noticeable gleam in her eye. Tish couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that. Since when did all her teachers start having staff meetings about her? "So, what do you say?" 

"Um..." Tish started, entirely unsure of how to answer. Despite the obvious reasons to accept the offer, there was still much to consider. She'd have to learn the layout of a whole new campus, teachers, class-structures, and not to mention all new classmates. "Can I have some time to think about it?"

"Of course! I mean, it'd be preferable to have an answer by the end of the break, but yes, you may. I took the liberty of gathering all the necessary forms into a doc which I will forward to you right now..." said the lively woman offhandedly as she directed her attention towards the PADD she cradled in one arm. Within a few seconds, a brief buzzing sound could be heard coming from Tish's bag, confirming the document had been sent. She had to stop herself from grimacing. Hard deadlines had always been an enemy of hers. Could she not have mentioned this sooner?

"Thanks, I'll get back to you as soon as possible," she promised, her face beginning to hurt from faking a smile. Ms. Lambert said nothing, the pleased nod she opted for leaving them in an odd silence of prolonged smiles. "Well, bye!" Tish said after she felt the moment had gone on long enough. 

"Oh, right! Bye! Have a good summer!" exclaimed the exceedingly peppy woman as Tish was finally on route out the door again. Daring not to look back, she continued on with her head down, a feeling of resentment building within her. How could a summer spent contemplating whether pursuing quicker avenues to her dream job was worth leaving her best friend behind be even remotely good? 

"What was that about?" inquired an instantly recognizable voice, making Tish jump. _Speak of the devil_ – _or think_ , she corrected herself needlessly. 

"Vess – hi!" greeted Tish, cringing internally at how suspicious she must've sounded. She hadn't even lied yet and already felt guilty. 

"Hey – you alright? She didn't ask you to translate an email from her Russian pen-pal again, did she? I swear that woman makes far too many questionable life choices..." Vess declared with a disapproving shake of their head – garnering a snort from Tish. 

"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad. I thought it was kinda sweet. Besides, she didn't ask me to do it, she wanted me to give it to my mom." she professed, knowing just how they would react just by the way their face scrunched up in disgust. Tish laughed, always grateful for their energetic presence and in this instance, how easily they could get swept up in an entirely different topic than the one prior. 

"Okay I'm sorry, but there is absolutely nothing 'sweet,' about what that man wrote. He literally said and I quote," they pulled out their PADD, frantically swiping through multiple different documents with the stylus they kept perched on their ear. " _'Your womanly ways drive me wild—'_ " 

" _'—with raw, untamable desire.'_ I remember." finished Tish, putting a hand over her face, laughing uncomfortably. "I still can't believe I let you talk me into letting you read it..." she trailed off, carding a hand through her long, dark hair. 

"Hey! Don't you even pretend like you didn't wanna know what was in it—" Vess argued, volume rising to a level Tish wasn't quite sure they fully realized.

"Inside voice, hun." she reminded them as Ms. Lambert exited her room – smiling at the both of them before turning to walk in the opposite direction of the main entrance doors. 

" _Sorry_ —" they apologized, voice barely above a whisper, reverting back to normal as soon as the teacher they had been talking about was safely out of range. "—I'm totally right though, aren't I?" Vess continued, earning a playful eye roll from Tish. 

"About what? That I wanted to be permanently scarred by what was in my teacher's personal emails?" she purposely set them up, chuckling when they automatically agreed without thinking. 

"Yes! Wait, no! When you put it like _that_ —"

"Okay, okay — you're right! Happy?" Tish finally gave in, starting to grow tired of their little debate. Sometimes Vess just didn't know when to call it quits. Her impatient snaps that came about with this, though she often regretted them later, and sometimes wondered if she should apologize for them, never seemed to bother them. She couldn't think of that now, though — there were far bigger matters currently at hand. She would just have to try to enjoy their time together, no matter what she eventually chose to do. 

"You have to admit that part about the, 'nectar of her skin,' was pretty funny, though." they spoke up following a brief moment of silence. 

"That's true — I will give you that one..." she allowed, Vess's laughter too infectious for Tish not to join in. It was moments like this, the small interactions, the inside jokes — she knew she would miss the most. Even just the thought of not having those day-to-day exchanges anymore made her want to chase down Ms. Lambert and tell her flat-out she wouldn't be transferring out. 

"Ah – I got totally sidetracked, sorry — what was the thing with Ms. Lambert actually about?" Vess repeated their question, the gravity and weight of it, while no less daunting to Tish, ultimately bearable for the sake of their friendship. Taking a second to think of what exactly to say, she had been on the verge of opening her mouth to speak when an unexpected interruption arose. "Tish?" said Vess, tapping her on the shoulder. 

"Yep, just a minute—" she replied offhandedly, still unaware that there was an interference at all, therefore very confused when she found herself being grabbed by her shoulders and turned to face the other way. The moment she had, however, Tish immediately understood, and at the same time, didn't at all. 

"Mom?" 


End file.
